Life on the Run
by cautiousAlbatross
Summary: Meenah and Aranea as road-roaming criminals.


"Drive, drive, drive!" Meenah shouts, jumping into the car over the side, not bothering to open the door.

You stomp on the gas and skid away, leaving a smell of burning rubber and an impoverished convenience store behind you.

"How much did you get?" you ask, pulling out onto the freeway, as she puts on her glasses and checks her reflection.

"Coupla hundred, maybe," she says, separating her hair into two and beginning to braid one section.

"Any casualties?"

"Shot one guy in the leg. Nothing fatal," she adds rolling her eyes, "He just wouldn't fuckin' shut up."

"Well, we all know how much you hate that," you say, with a wry smile.

"Serket, you know your stories are too fuckin' long and that's a fact."

"So I've heard."

You overtake a red hatchback and check your mirrors for pursuit. So far, so good.

"Where we goin' now, then?" she asks, wrapping a hair tie around the end of the first braid and moving onto the other.

"As far as we can go in the next-" you check the clock "- five hours. You shouldn't have shot anyone."

"Aw, man. He was askin' for it!" she pouts.

"If you go around shooting everyone you think is asking for it we're not going to be getting away with this for much longer," you say, making an effort not to sigh.

"You're such a buzzkill," she huffs, and you smile.

"One of us has to keep you in check."

She finishes her second braid and tosses it over her shoulder melodramatically.

"If it weren't for you, Serket, I might have some fun," she says, leaning against her door.

"God forbid," you say, flashing her a smile, and she laughs.

Five and a half hours later, it's starting to get dark when you spot the lurid fluorescent sign of a cheap motel. You pull in, gliding into an empty space, and glance over at Meenah. She's fallen asleep beside you, and you smile when she jerks awake as you cut off the engine.

"Wasn't asleep," she says, slurring the 's' sounds slightly, and you laugh.

"Of course you weren't," you say, smirking.

"Maybe if you weren't so fuckin' dull," she grumbles, swinging open her door and sliding out.

"Oh, it's definitely my fault you can't stay awake for more than five minutes," you say, rolling your eyes, as you climb out of the car and walk around to the trunk.

"Serket, your stories are enough to put anyone to sleep," she says, helping you unfold the roof and slide it across.

"Maybe if you showed a little more interest you-"

"I'd be as boring as you?" she interrupts, sticking her tongue out at you.

You sigh huffily, grab your purse, lock the car, and march off towards the motel. She half-jogs after you, dragging your shared duffel bag, and you smile to yourself.

"Aw, c'mon, you know I was only joking," she says, catching you up at the reception.

"A double room, please," you say, ignoring her and smiling at the receptionist.

"That'll be twenty-nine dollars," says the receptionist, a pretty blonde who looks like she's seen it all before.

"Hey, are we gettin' any food?" Meenah asks, as you fish out a twenty and a ten and hand them to the receptionist.

"Maybe. Do you serve food?" you ask, still not looking at Meenah.

"We have a bar, and room service 'til eleven," the receptionist says, handing you a room key, "You're in room four oh seven."

"Thank you," you say, with a smile, and turn towards the stairs.

"Talk to me," whines Meenah, as you collapse onto the bed and flick the television on.

"Shh, I'm watching the news," you say.

She sighs, dumping the bag on the floor, and flops down next to you, propping herself up on her elbows.

"The news is so boring," she complains, dragging out the 'o' in boring.

You make shushing motions at her, and she rolls her eyes, collapsing completely.

"_... the armed robbery earlier today was carried out by two-"_

"Hey, that's us!" says Meenah, sitting up excitedly and pointing at the screen.

"Funnily enough, committing an armed robbery tends to get you on the news," you say, and she rolls her eyes.

"I mean they got a shot of the car," she says, pointing again at the pixelated CCTV footage playing on the screen.

"Oh," you say, "Pity. I liked that car."

"Yeah, the guy we nicked it from was real nice about it," she says, laughing.

"If I remember correctly, you broke both of his legs," you say, giving her a disapproving look.

"Minor details," she says, waving one hand dismissively.

You sigh and turn back to the news. It's moved on to another story, about a forest fire somewhere up north, and you continue to watch disinterestedly until you feel Meenah's arms wrapping around your stomach.

"Hey," she whispers, leaning in close to your ear, "How about some food?"

"All right, all right," you say, lifting her arms off of you and reaching for the laminated menu, "Pick something cheap."

"Everythin' on here is cheap," she points out, and you smile despite yourself.

"Fine, just pick anything, then."

"Burger and fries," she says, ignoring the menu completely.

"All right."

You lie down on your stomach, reaching for the phone, and dial room service. Meenah lies down on her back, her head resting against your side, and plays with her hair whilst you order two burgers and fries.

"You ever killed anyone?" she asks, absently, as you put down the phone.

"No. Have you?"

"Not yet. Not really. Come close, though."

You nod, turning to face her.

"I guess I'm not sure I'm ready to go from armed robber to murderer," she says, with a sheepish smile, and you laugh.

"It's a big step," you say.

"You ever think we'll have to do it?" she asks, looking up at you with wide eyes.

You pause for a moment, then say "I don't know."

"What would you do?" she asks, after a short silence.

"Hmm?"

"If you were faced with the choice. Would you kill 'em?"

"You know what? I'm not sure."

Your conversation is interrupted by a knock on your door. You get up to collect your food, smiling at the girl delivering it, then return to the bed.

"Practically gourmet," you say, handing Meenah her limp burger.

"Bon appétit," she says, in an awful French accent, and you laugh.

Meenah changes the channel, and you watch old cartoons whilst you eat your burgers. The scene is comfortingly familiar, and you can almost forget you're on the run. Afterwards, you take turns to shower and brush your teeth side-by-side, then fall asleep in each other's arms.

You wake up before six, and shake Meenah awake.

"Meenah," you whisper, as she cracks open her eyes, "It's time to go."

"Usual drill?" she asks, stifling a yawn.

You nod, sliding out of bed and dressing quickly. You fix your make-up in the bathroom mirror whilst she packs the complementary soaps and gathers up the rest of your things. Grabbing the car key, you give the room a cursory glance and then let yourself out.

"I'll get the rest of the stuff," you say, softly, "Don't take anything too flashy, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah," she says, waving a hand at you, "Back exit's this way, right?"

You tiptoe down the stairs to the fire exit, and quietly disable the alarm. Meenah gives you a thumbs up before heading across the car park, checking for unlocked vehicles, and you make your way over to your stolen convertible. It doesn't take you long to gather up the rest of your belongings. You leave the keys in the ignition for someone else to find, and stand by the car park exit, waiting for Meenah.

You're struggling not to fall asleep when a large truck trundles off of the freeway and down to the car park.

"C'mon, Serket," says Meenah, leaning out of the window, "Time to go."

"You did not steal a truck," you say, not moving.

"Hurry up!"

You roll your eyes, but heft your bag up into the passenger seat then climb in after it.

"Why did you have to steal a truck?" you ask, as Meenah carefully reverses back onto the freeway, "I _told_ you not to get anything flashy."

"Yeah, well, it ain't easy findin' an unlocked car round here," she grumbles, not bothering to indicate as she pulls out into the fast lane, "This was all I could get."

You sigh, leaning back into your seat.

"I didn't know you could- Is that blood?" you cut yourself off, spotting a dark stain on the headrest of Meenah's seat.

"Maybe the only way I could get this thing was by forcibly evicting the previous owner," she says, avoiding your gaze.

"Oh, Meenah... Is he dead?"

"A bullet to the head would tend to do that to a guy, yeah."

You pause for a moment.

"And how do you feel about it?"

"Darlin', I don't feel nothin' but annoyed he wouldn't just give me his fuckin' truck," she says, flicking on the radio.

You nod silently as she twirls the dial around to some station playing obnoxious pop music.

Meenah pulls into a service station at around eight, parking the truck haphazardly beside the others, and gently shakes you awake.

"You hold onto the stuff, I'll get us another vehicle, 'kay?" she says, and you nod sleepily.

Hoisting the bag onto your shoulder, you jump out of the truck, your skirt flaring around you. She heads for the little shop whilst you hover outside, trying to look inconspicuous.

She's back before you have time to get bored, twirling a set of car keys around her finger.

"Slipped somethin' in his drink, he won't be missin' these for a while," she says, grinning, and you sigh.

"Nothing deadly, I hope?"

"Nah, thought I'd keep it down to one murder a day for now."

You smile as she unlocks your prize – an old, battered pickup truck – and climbs in.

"Where to now?" she asks, with a mischievous smile.

"Let's go south," you say, smiling back at her, "I've always wanted to rob a Texan."

"South it is," she says, putting the truck in gear and pulling away.

Country music plays on the radio as you speed away down the highway, a gun in your lap and a smile on your lips. Life on the run can be fun when you've got company.


End file.
